August 25, 2010

Ice-Weddings!


This isn't so much a how to, or an informative post, as much as a rambling of thoughts on the subject! Bear with me!



With Xue Shen and Hongbo Zhao's on-ice wedding ceremony this month (even though they have been officially married for some years), it got me thinking about tying the knot on the ice. I've recently gotten engaged myself and am revelling in the bridal magazines and hundreds if not thousands of beautiful candy-toned blogs dedicated to the big day. So how could I avoid writing a skating-wedding post?! I could not! *Runs valiantly to keyboard*!
Xue and Hongbo aren't the first to come up with the idea either, albeit they are combining their ceremony with a star studded performance line-up in a bid to start up a 'Stars on Ice' style show that will tour in China. They are hoping to promote our sport nationally (in China) and create interest, thereby breeding the next generation of super skaters. I have no doubt they will succeed!

Getting married on the ice is an extravagant step, even for hard core skaters. I couldn't see myself doing it, and the logistics just seem so damn complicated! Instead of 'black tie' on the invitations, does one write 'snow suit'? I'd be far too scared of running over the delicate train of my tulle dress. Or should that be the bottom on my fleece blanket?

There are 3 international skaters that spring the mind when I think on-ice wedding; above-mentioned Xue and Hongbo, Sarah Abitbol, and Philippe Candeloro. Abitbol married her husband on the ice, with their little dog Cookie. How cute. I wonder if it wore paw-skates? Ok just kidding, but seriously, when's someone going to invent pet-skates? (I'm having visions of Paris Hilton on the Rockefeller Centre with her dogs & ferrets, there's a lot of money to be made!).

Finding a celebrant/priest/minister/etc to marry in an ice rink can't be an easy task. I wish I could offer mounds of advice on how to go about setting up your own ice-wedding, but unfortunately I wouldn't know where to start. The usual logistics of a wedding can only be complicated by a cold venue, just some of these include;

- Dress (for the bride and the rest of the bridal party!)
- Decoration (how do you decorate an ice rink?!)
- Reception (do you go popping the champagne on the ice? Won't everyone freeze if they stand on the ice in Choo's for long periods of time?)
- Wedding breakfast (should this be fries and hot chocolate in the rink café? Or shall we go more upscale?)
- Venue rental (Lord knows patch ice costs a fortune at the best of times, you're probably looking at about 200$ per hour for ice rental)

In any case, it's an extravagant affair. One that guests are going to remember for a long time to come. I'm too chicken though, or maybe it's just I have too much of a life outside the rink, heaven forbid ;)

Do you know someone who is planning to or who has married at the rink? Have any information about how to go about setting up an ice-wedding? Let us know about it below!

Have any questions, want to know more, don't agree? Please leave me a comment!

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Photo credits:
All photos from sxc.hu
Skates by sundstrom
Wedding hands by lcumings

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